Honoring Grampie

Today would have been Grampie's birthday - I believe his 93rd. He passed away two months ago in Connecticut and when our family came together to honor him it was amazing to see his giant clan. Today I am going to celebrate the quarter of me that is Grampie. It is easy to do so by watching baseball or eating ice cream - two of his favorite pastimes. Rather, I am going to notice his best influences on my personal values. These include charity, contemplation and one-to-one connection.

Adventures with Mom

Check it out - my mom has started a blog Adventures with Mom ! And you thought I was prolific?

Photo of Mom and Dad at a fundraiser event related to one of their many charity projects. You'll read all about them on Mom's blog.

Mission Driven Math

When I was a Freshman in college I enrolled in Microeconomics – or was it Macroeconomics? I lasted a few weeks and then dropped the course. I had never heard business speak prior to the class and it wasn’t fitting into my artist/photography student head. Math in general was not a strong spot. In fact, I scored so poorly in math that I was not allowed to take computer courses in college. How’s that for old school logic?

Well, now I love creating business strategies that are bottomline focused. My favourite tool is Excel. I regularly willingly volunteer to be the one who puts the numbers into a spreadsheet and creates financial forecasts. Yes, I embrace =sum(A2:A10)*B3.

I’m finding that in the charity, not for profit, nonprofit, volunteer organisation world I am a rarity. People are mission driven, which is essential but often find it difficult to link the vision to business acumen. Every day I drive joy from wearing two hats - being the translator between math and mission.